Energy Saving Tips

Whether money is tight in your household or not, there really is no reason to just let money fly out the window when it comes to keeping the temperature of your home at a comfortable level. There are lots of ways to reduce energy consumption in your home which is actually not only good for the planet, but that also will allow you to save money that you can then use in other ways that are more fun than just putting it towards your heating bill every month.

So let’s look at a few ways that you can reduce your home heating bill without too much investment in time, or money.

1. Give some attention to that thermostat. When you are not home, or even during the nighttime, turn the temperature down a few degrees. Why heat a home, when you are not even in it? That makes no sense and is a large waste of money on most people’s energy bills. You can keep a note on the front door to remind you – turn the heat down. But if you have a extra money to invest, then purchasing a thermostat that can be programmed to automatically turn the heat down during certain times of the day or night, it can make its money back in no time.

2. Cook more than just dinner! That may sound crazy, but if you are making a meal anyway and using the oven to prepare your food, then keep using that residual heat to warm up the kitchen while you eat. Heat trapped in the oven after your meal is cooked just dissipates and is wasted for the most part. So if once your meal is cooked, just leave your oven door ajar – the heat will come out into the room and make it a little more toasty. It’s another way to turn up the heat in the kitchen while keeping the thermostat down! Just be careful if you have little ones running around!

3. Heat it up! Try using smaller space heater just in rooms where you spend most of your time in, like your office, bedroom, or TV room. If you keep the overall house temperature set lower but use smaller heater – such as very efficient oil ones – then you can increase heat in the smaller space, keeping it more comfortable, but still not wasting energy heating the whole house.

4. Fill the cracks. Purchase some silicone tubes and just fill in all the cracks and spaces around all your windows and doors. You can even run some along the basement floor and down the walls if there are spaces. Look for any cracks and make sure you rill them all in. If your run your hand around the spaces you will feel a noticeable difference in temperature. A lot of heat is lost through cracks and the investment you have to make in just a few dollars for silicone, will be made up in no time with a reduction in your home heating bill.